


They Can What ?!?

by RavenBird



Series: Warlock Facts [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluffy, Funny, M/M, Shapeshifter Magnus, Shapeshifting, Warlock Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-07 12:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15218738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenBird/pseuds/RavenBird
Summary: Izzy and Jace have an argument that ends up with them in the library doing the research to find out who's right. Alec and Clary are just along for the entertainment but when they stumble across some interesting information the group decides to find out if its true.The question: Can warlocks shapeshift?





	They Can What ?!?

"Jace, this is ridiculous! It's obvious I'm right anyway" 

"If your right then you should be able to prove it, shouldn't you?"

Alec let out a sigh for the tenth time. Him, his siblings and Clary had an hour off from duty and had planned to just sit around and catch up as there wasn't much to do in just an hour but Izzy and Jace had gotten into some pointless argument about something Alec couldn't even remember, how longs a certain demon's tail? Anyway, they'd moved to the Institutes library when neither could prove they were right and Clary and he had tagged along. Alec supposed it wasn't the worst way to spend his break but it certainly wasn't the best either. The best way involved a specific glittery warlock. Alec smiled thinking about his boyfriend.

"I don't need to prove it, it's common sense! What reason is there for a demon's tail to be that long?"

“For Balance!!! You know, like a monkey”

“A MONKEY IS NOT A DEMON!” 

Anyone walking past the library right now was gonna have a lot of questions thought Clary. She chuckled, the siblings never failed to make her laugh, even Alec who sat in his chair pretending to look exasperated, had a gleam in his eyes that made her smile. While Alec watched Jace and Izzy arguing, Clary was scanning the shelves. She wanted to improve her knowledge of downworlders, with the new talks set up by Alec, learning and understanding them had become very important. That and she was just very curious. Of course, Clary knew the likelihood of finding reliable material on the Downworld in a Shadowhunter library were slim but it was worth a try. 

Izzy was just getting ready to strangle Jace when Clary found “100 Warlock Facts”. Clary snorted at the title, it was so juvenile sounding but she picked it up anyway. She walked back over to Alec holding the small book up in front of him, smirking. 

“Looks like something you’d like to read”

Alec just rolled his eyes and went back to watching his siblings bicker. Clary sat down on the chair next to him and opened the book, looking over the contents, the first few chapters were typical things, birth, immortality and warlock marks. After that, the chapters changed to various Warlock Abilities and Clary gasped. What the hell? Clary quickly flicked through the pages, trying to find the chapter, her rush catching Alec's attention. He read over her shoulder, his eyes going wide at the chapters title bold lettering that read "SHAPESHIFTING". Alec and Clary looked at each other, shocked. 

"I didn't know they could do that" 

Izzy and Jace looked up at the two, catching how surprised they sounded and felt curious and moved other to them. Their argument basically forgotten after it disintegrated into random insults ten minutes ago. Jace swiped the book the from Clary's hands and brought it up to his face, like really close to his face, and froze before shouting...

"They can WHAT????" 

If Jace snatching the book hadn't been so annoying, his comically wide eyes would be funny. Izzy was next to snatch the book and had a similar reaction before Alec finally got a hold of the book and placed it in front of them so they could all read. Not that it helped, the chapter was short and vague with no pictures or other references and the group's curiosity had only gotten worse. It took about ten seconds for Jace to snap the book closed, making his siblings and Clary jump, and announce...

"Let's go to Magnus's and ask him?" 

"Our breaks nearly over" 

"What if he's busy or doesn't want to talk about it" 

"Oh come on Alec, the Institute can survive without us a little longer. And we won't know until we ask so let's go" 

In the end, it didn't take much convincing, Alec always wanted to see his boyfriend and he was beyond curious, the Institute could last. Clary still worried about uosetting Magnus in any way, he'd helped her so much but she couldn't lie and say she didn't want to know. Shapeshifting was just too interesting to pass up and a trip to the loft was better than sitting in the library arguing over demon tails so the four Shadowhunters made their way to Brooklyn. 

*****

Magnus was sitting on his balcony sipping a martini when he felt something approaching his wards. He'd finished early with his clients that day and was content to just sit and relax until his shadowhunter got home. It seemed like his shadowhunter was going to be early and he had company. Magnus sighed when the four shadowhunters came to see him together it often meant that something was wrong and they needed him to fix it. He didn't begrudge his friends, truth be told Magnus enjoyed helping them, but it would be a nice change to meet up with the team for a social event rather than a demon hunt. There was a quiet knock at the door which made Magnus smile, Alexander had his own key but he always knocked if he had company. Magnus flicked his wrist hearing the subtle unlock of his door followed by footsteps. He downed the rest of his drink and went to meet the shadowhunters in the lounge. 

"What happened this time?" 

Magnus teased without any malice happily stepping up to Alexander for a quick kiss. He noticed then, that Alec and rest were dressed in casual clothes, clean casual clothes and they weren't clutching their weapons as if they had run back into battle in the next minute. Even their posture looked different, not tensed more eager if a little nervous. 

"Nothing happened we just wanted to ask you a question" 

Magnus hummed, this was a change. He gestured for them to sit down and snapped drinks into their hands. If they wondered how Magnus knew their favourite drinks they didn't ask. 

"So what's on your minds" 

"Well Izzy and Jace were having this argument and we ended up in the library and I found a book on warlocks and we found something in there that was interesting. We wanted to know if it was true or not" 

"It's nothing bad, by the way"

Magnus paused, on one hand it was endearing that the Shadowhunters were trying to learn and understand his kind, on the other anything they found in the Institutes library was probably prejudiced and fake...and insulting. But Alec had said it wasn’t bad so he bit his lip and nodded. He could get through this. 

“Well you’ve got me curious now so ask away”

“...”

“...”

“Can Warlocks Shapeshift?” 

Magnus’s eyes went wide in surprise. One, that wasn’t nearly as bad as what he’d been braced for. Two, how did the Shadowhunters even know to write about the rare talent in the first place. 

Alec watched Magnus’s face intensely looking for any sign of discomfort or hurt but only saw surprise. Alec sucked in breathe, his cheeks going pink, perhaps the book was full of lies and Magnus’s sudden stillness was him trying not to laugh at them. Of course it was that, how could they of actually believed warlocks could...

“Yes” 

“WHAT” 

“Yes...well some of us can. It’s rare talent and very taxing on the body so not all warlocks can manage it” 

It was quiet for moment as the Shadowhunters took in the information and then....

“Can you shift?”

“What do you turn into?”

“Can you show us?”

“Jace! He literally just said it’s taxinf on his body!..”

“Wait, how is it taxing? Your never in serious risk are you?”

“Is like when a werewolf transforms?”

Magnus just say there smiling, amused, as the group continued to throw questions at him while never actually letting him answer. Eventually, when they started slowing down he put his hand up to stop them. They all went completely silent looking at him like children waiting to hear the rest of a story. That was an odd thought.

“Yes I can shift.  
My animal of choice is a black panther  
I only tend to shift as a last resort  
It can be dangerous but I’ve never had a really bad experience  
No it’s not the same as a werewolf change”

Magnus quickly rattled off the answers fully aware the curious hunters wanted more detail. There was another pause and sure enough...

“Animal of choice...so you don’t have a specific shift?”

“How dangerous, what happens exactly”

“How’s it different?”

“I can totally see you as a black panther, it suits you”

Magnus chuckled at Isabelle’s comment, he had to agree with his dark and cat eyes the panther seemed an obvious choice. Alec’s concern for his safety was touching too.

“It’s hard to explain. We can shift into any animal but there’s always one that just feels right.”

“The magic used when werewolves shift is what we “rough magic” it’s unrefined and relies on brute force to make the change happen. That’s why it’s slow and painful.  
The spell used by warlocks is complicated, fragile and requires a lot of concentration. That’s what makes the change smooth, fast and painless, it’s also why we can keep our clothes.  
However, it also makes the spell very draining and that sounds one of the reasons shifting is dangerous.”

“One of the reasons? How else can it go wrong”

Magnus wasn’t sure if he was playing 20 questions or just straight up being integrated at this point. He supposed it was all the same. 

“Well, if your too magically drained then it’s makes it impossible to shift back. Meaning you have to wait around. If you eat something as an animal, for example I mawled someone once, and then shift back and your human body doesn’t agree with it, you’ll throw everything up. You eat too much and shift back, you can actually tear your insides apart. And if you stay too long in your animal form you start forget about being human, you don’t change back.  
But you shouldn’t worry Alexander, I haven’t had to shift in Lilith knows how long.”

Magnus really wasn’t bothered by the dangers of shifting. Like he’d said, he rarely had to do it and apart from the odd upset stomach, it’d never gone badly when he had. It wasn’t something to fuss over. The Shadowhunters thought differently...

“...”

“You could Tear your INSIDES OUT!”

“YOU FUCKING MAWLED SOMEONE!!” 

Alec and Jace stared at each other as if surprised that, that was each other picked up on. Magnus and girls smirked.

“He mawled someone, we can’t just gloss over that, right?! Like that’s not something you just Casually Say?!?”

“He deserves it. He harassed my then girlfriend and tried to rob me.”

“So you mawled him?”

“I’m don’t like people touching what is mine”

Jace gaped at the Warlock, who was 100% serious, with both fear, concern and a weird type of awe. He looked between Magnus and Alec, expecting to see his Parabatia as freaked out as him but Alec just shrugged as if to say “what can you do”

“Anyone ever told you, your a tad possessive”

“Oh I’m more than a tad possessive, I assure you, but I haven’t had any complaints”

Magnus and Alec shared a suggestive look making the others feel as though they were intruding on a private moment. Jace looked as if he’d seen a ghost he was so white. He got like this whenever reminded Alec actually had sex like a regular guy.

Izzy was the one to break the moment.

“Ok then, anything else you can tell us. How does it feel to shift?”

Magnus sigh but smiled and settled down for the evening of questions and the eventual promise to show the four his panther form next time he went on mission with them. Magnus couldn’t say he minded.


End file.
